1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, and more particularly, to an inkjet recording apparatus provided with a cleaner which cleans the nozzle surface of a head in which the nozzle surface is disposed obliquely to the horizontal plane.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an inkjet recording apparatus, when a recording operation is carried out continuously, ink adheres and accumulates in the vicinity of the nozzles and blockages of the nozzles may occur. Then, cleaning of the nozzle surface is carried out periodically in the inkjet recording apparatus.
As a device for cleaning a nozzle surface (cleaner), Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-212351 discloses a device which cleans and wipes away ink adhering to the nozzle surface by means of a travelling wiping member, by causing a travelling band-shaped wiping member which is wrapped about one axle (supply spindle) and another axle (take-up spindle) to abut against the nozzle surface of a head by means of a pressing roller.
However, in the cleaner in the related art, the supply spindle, the take-up spindle and the pressing roller are arranged mutually in parallel, and therefore if the head is disposed obliquely to the horizontal plane, the cleaner must also be disposed obliquely to the horizontal plane, which presents a drawback since a large installation space in the front/rear direction of the head becomes necessary.
Moreover, in order to lower the frequency of replacement of the wiping member, it is necessary to make the wiping member long, but lengthening the wiping member makes the diameter of the roll of the wiping member wrapped about the take-up spindle larger correspondingly, and this results in a drawback in that an even larger installation space becomes necessary.
Furthermore, in an inkjet recording apparatus which employs a drum conveyance method for conveying the recording medium (a method in which the recording medium is conveyed in rotation by being wrapped about the circumferential surface of a drum), since the heads of respective colors (for example, yellow, cyan, magenta and black) are inclined in mutually different directions about the circumferential surface of the drum, then if it is attempted to install cleaners in the related art in unmodified form, the cleaners will interfere with each other and therefore cannot be installed. If it is sought to avoid this, then the respective heads must be withdrawn by a large distance from the drum during cleaning, thus presenting a drawback in that the overall size of the apparatus becomes large.